When Lily* retired as a ticket agent from a major U.S. airlines after 19 years of service, the airlines lost one of it's most important assets. When it came to passenger service, Lily received more "rose" letters from appreciative passengers than any other airlines employee in the entire north east corridor.

As a business owner there is no greater fear than not having the money in the bank to make payroll. It's a stress that keeps on coming every two weeks. A couple of weeks ago I was talking to a dear friend who has been in business for 25 years. He just told his staff that in order to avoid layoffs everyone would have to go to a four day work week. It was not a decision he made lightly.

If there is a lesson to be learned from Friday night's presidential debate,it's this:when it comes to leadership,body language matters. It's not so much what you say as a leader,but what impression your body language communicates. Right after the debate-scoring it like a boxing match-- the pundits said McCain had won on the points. For a brief few moments they talked about McCain's command of foreign policy and how he came off as a credible command in chief.

Time was you could buy a bottle of ketchup and immediately start pouring the condiment to your heart's delight. You did not have to unscrew the top, pull back the non-tampering plastic seal,throw out the seal,and then screw the top back on before you began using the ketchup But you would have to be over thirty to remember those days. Any product that could possibly be tampered with after it has left the manufacturer now comes with a plastic protector that says to consumers --no one has touched this product since it left the manufacturer.

Earlier this summer researchers at Ohio State University released a study on cyberloafers aka cyberslackers ---workers who use work computers during work hours for personal use. The net net of that study --employers need to chill. According to the Ohio State  study if you want to find the cyberslackers in your company you can skip entry level workers. Don't point your finger at the bored receptionist, secretary or call centre operator.